Guard for printing-presses



D. CURRY.

GUARD FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED APR-26.1919.

1, 851,997. Patented Sept. 7, 1920.

INVENTOR CWT/I 5 TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID CURRY, or New YORK, N. Y.

GUARD FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID CURRY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York,in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Guards for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class of safety devices adapted to be used in the art of printing.

My invention has for its object prlmarily to provide a guard or apparatus designed to be employed. for protecting a person when feeding a printing press, such as types commonly known as job presses, whereby the person will be prevented from accidental injury to the fingers or hand by being inadvertently moved between the platen and the bed of the press during the period of feeding, and which is adapted to allow sheets of material to be held and removed from the press by the feeder especially when partial printing of the sheets is required. This invention resides mainly in providing a fender adapted to be disposed between the platen and the bed of a printing press, and

' associated with the fender is mechanism -which is operably mounted on the platen so that the fender will be swung toward and from a position in proximity to the bed of the press with the movements of the platenwhereby the fender will serve to prevent the person feeding sheets in the press from 'thoughtlessly directin the fingers and hand between the platen and bed particularly dur-' ing the printing process when the sheets are removed from the press.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient and durable guard for printing presses which may be made in 7 any desired shape and size.

specification in which sim lar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all 1 the views, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a fragmentary view, partly broken away, showing a side Specification of Letters Patent.

elevation of a type of printing press with one form of guard embodying my invention applied thereto, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective View, partly broken away, of the guard.

The device or guard. has a fender or screen 10 which in practice is arranged between the platen, as 11, of a printing press, as 12, having, a bed, as 13, the form of press illustrated being of a well known make used for job printing, and which is constructed so that the bed supports forms of type, as 14, in a vertical position, while the platen is pivotally mounted on a frame, as 15, of the press for being moved by one or more bars, as 16, and one or more drive gears as 17, in a direction to circumscribe a partial circle as well as being moved for a short distance longitudinally toward and from the bed and the type when the press is operated for accomplishing the printing process.

The fender or screen 10 may be of any suitable form, though the fender shown is preferably made of a sheet or apron of cloth, leather or other flexible material in substantially a rectangular shape. The upper lengthwise edge of the fender is held on the central part of a rod 18 of a frame 19 also having two side bars 20 and 21, the rod being provided between the upper ends of the side bars. The side bars 20 and 21 are slidably disposed through apertures provided transversely in sleeves, as 22 and 23, having two of their ends in opposition. Protruding toward each other from the opposed ends of the sleeves are pins 24 and 25, and these pins are rotatably disposed in sockets, not shown, one of which is provided in each of the upper parts of the side edges of the platen 11 in proximity to its upper or righthand end. The fender 10 with its frame may, therefore, be moved in upward and downward directions as well as being rotatablyswung with respect to the platen. The lower lengthwise edge of the flexible fender or screen 10 is fastened, as at 26, by bolts or otherwise to the edge of the platen 11 which corresponds to the upper end of the vertical bed 13 of the press. 011 the'central parts of the side bars 20 and 21 of the frame 19 are fixed collars 27 and 28, and encircling the parts of the side bars be- Patented Sept. 7, 1920;

Application filed April 26, 1919. Serial No. 292,818.

tween the collars and sleeves 22 and 23 are spiral springs 29 and 30 which are tensioned to normally force the side bars yieldingly downward toward the lower end of the platen. Associated with the fender l0 and with the frame 19 is a mechanism, as 31, adapted to be operably mounted on the platen of the press to cause the fender to be swung upwardly and downwardly between the platen and bed of the press as well as towardandfrom a position in proximity to the bed synchronously with the movements of the platen when the press is operated.

The mechanism 31 may be of any suitable type, though the mechanism preferably consists \oftwosim'ilar levers or :bars, as 32 mass, each of somewhatan'L-shape toprovide twoangularly disposed'arms 34 and 35. At the intersection of these arms of each :0f the levers isasleeve 36, and both of the sleeves are .rotatably mounted on fixed pins provided on the lower parts of the sides of thep'laten ll of the press. The levers are alsoarranged on the pins sothat their arms 3.4 are disposed downwardly, while their arms 35 .are disposed upwardly towardgthe 7 lower end of the platen. The arms-34 are somewhat shorter'thanthe arms 35 of the .levers,.and extending .in opposite directions from theifree end parts-0f the :arms34 of the Ilevers are pins or.st0ps, as 37 and 38.

,pivoting the .L-shaped levers or bars in. thismannertothe platenlthe levers may' be move in directions upwardly and -down-.

. Wardly with relation to-the platen. The free .ends .of' the arms :35 .ofthe levers-32 and 33 are rotatably "mounted on pins '39 and 40 which protrude from the sleeves 41 and 42 held-on the :ends of the side-bars 20 and 21 'ofthe frame 19vwhich are-opposite to the .rod 18. On the opposite parts orexposed 'facesrofsthe arms 34 of the levers or bars 32 and 33 [are provided trips or pawls, as 43 iilaiidi44-bothrof which areof similar forma- Ltions. Each of the trips or pawls is ap-.

proximately L-shapedto provide a short .ar-m45 anda somewhat longerarm-46. The

elbows-ofthese pawls are pivoted,.a't 47-and -48, respectively,#tothe-eentral parts of the .arms 34 of the lovers .32 and .33 somewhat .abovethestops -37;and-38-0f the arms 34 .an'dsorthat the arms 46 of the pawls are disposed vertically downwardly :in close proximity to thestopsmvhile the arms45 of the pawls .are disposed transversely toward vto'the upperjparts of the arms; 34 of the le I vers 1-32 and '33. for normally serving to cause the pawls to be swung so that their arms 46 will assume normal positions toward the stops, 37 and 38 of the levers 32 and 33. On the frame .15 of the press, and in spaced relation to the lower ends of the levers 32 and 33 are provided corresponding brackets,:as 50 and 51, and protruding from these brackets are lugs, as 52 and 53.

These brackets are arranged on the frame of the press so that their lugs are spaced on transverse alinement from the stops 3? and paper, .as 54, or other material are fed on guard mechanism being mounted thereon will ,move with the .platen until. arms 46 of .the pawls 43 and 44 encounter the fixed stops 52 :and .53 compelling arms .32 and 33 .to swing .on pivots 36 and .causethe frame vl9 to be swung upwardly .to the positionzat D. Springs 29 and 30 being thus compressed during 'the :upward movement of levers -.32,and 33 .andiby the further movement of ithe ,platen toward the type, that is the movement of the platen from position B'to (l thearms 46 .ofthe ;paWls- 43 and44 slide-over the ;lugs .52 and-53 of the brackets 50 and .51, causing the :frame 19 to snap back'to the retracted position at .E .by .actuationof the-springs29 and30 so that the ,top of the fender :is just above the upper part-ofthe type'onthePbedofthe[press just at the lmomentiofthe impression. Follow- :ing the printing I of the sheets the feeder of the press may readily remove each .sheet immediately upon the reversal of :the platen .movement, rtllfltfllS, from position C to pcsitionsB. -On the return rmovement-of the platenlthe guard will retain -its retracted position and not interfere With-the removal of the printedsheet or the feeding of anotherv sheet .as the. trips 43 :and '44 in contacting with the lugs .52 .-and 53 :of the brackets 50 and '51 will .be-Ecauscdto leave their stops37and 38 sliding over lugs 52 and 53 without: impartingzany movement ?to levers 32 and-33 t ustensioningsprings 48 and149 which cause :the pawls to :returnto I their normal v positions against thestops 37 and 38 when the platen reaches its :maxi- .mum outward or feeding position, as shown in Fig. :1.

g @In the-foregoing description, I have emibodied the preferred form o'fmyinvention.

but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, therefore, I reserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a guard for a printing press having a vertically disposed type bed and having a platen operably movable toward and from the type bed, the combination with a frame slidably and pivotally mounted on the sides of the platen, of a flexible screen held to the frame and held to the platen for being adjusted upwardly and downwardly relative to the top of the platen, levers mounted on the platen for raising the frame, carrying pawls whereby the levers may be tripped near the closing movement of the platen, and springs for causing retracted adjustment of the frame and screen.

2. In a' guard for a printing press having a vertically disposed type bed and having a platen operably movable toward and from the type bed, the combination with a frame slidably and pivotally mounted on the sides of the platen, of a flexible screen held to the frame and held to the platen for being adjusted upwardly and downwardly relative to the top of the platen, levers mounted on the platen for raising the frame, and trips carried by the levers whereby the levers may be tripped near the closing movements of the platen, and springs for causing retracted adjustment of the frame and screen.

3. In a guard for a printing press having a vertically disposed type bed and having a platen operably movable toward and from the type bed, the combination with a frame slidably and pivotally mounted on the sides of the platen, of a flexible screen held to the frame and held to the platen for being adjusted upwardly and down wardly relative to the top of the platen, levers mounted on the platen for raising the frame, stops on the frame of the press, and pawls carried by the levers for contacting with the stops whereby the levers will be tripped near the closing movement of the platen and springs for causing retracted adjustment of the frame and screen.

This specification signed and witnessed this 25th day of April A. I). 1919.

DAVID CURRY.

IVitnesses:

I. FREDERICK CRYER,

S. R. BELL. 

